Bactérias periodontopatogênicas detectadas, identificadas e quantificadas na saliva de crianças e adolescentes com síndrome de Down

Abstract

It is of particular importance to investigate the colonization of periodontal pathogens and their role in the etiology of periodontal disease in children and adolescents with Down syndrome, who have a high prevalence of periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to assess qualitative and quantitatively the presence of periodontopathogenic bacteria in saliva in a group of Down and non-Down syndrome children and adolescents. This cross-sectional study included a sample of 30 Down syndrome children and adolescents (group DS), aged 3-12 years, and 30 non-Down syndrome children and adolescents (group ND) aged 4-12 years. Dental examinations were performed to determine the bleeding on probing index and plaque index in index teeth. Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected from all participants. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique identified the presence and density of eight periodontopathogenic bacteria in saliva. The chisquare test was used to analyze the categorical variables and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for the continuous variables. The significance level was set at 5%. Clinical records showed a higher frequency of children and adolescents with bleeding on probing in DS group (P = 0.037); no significant difference was found in relation to plaque index between the groups (P = 0.516). Down syndrome children showed higher salivary density of Campylobacter rectus (P = 0.013), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P = 0.025), Treponema denticola (P = 0.026), Fusobacterium nucleatum (P = 0.013), Prevotella intermedia (P = 0.001) and Prevotella nigrescens (P = 0.008). No significant difference was found in salivary density of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (P = 0.057) and Tanerella forsythia (P = 0.584). In DS group, the densities of bacteria of orange complex were higher in the age groups 3-7 years for F. nucleatum, P. intermedia and P. nigrescens, as well as in age groups 8-12 years for C. rectus. The results confirm that Down syndrome children and adolescents have an increased susceptibility to periodontal disease and higher prevalence and density of important periodontal pathogens for the onset and worsening of the periodontal disease.